I have always wanted world peace. When i have blown out candles or had any opportunity, i deeply wished for an end to poverty, hunger and greed that are systematically a part of wars between classes or countries. Then one day, a Sufi Shaman stopped me and said, “Be careful for what you wish for. Peace can come at a price to someone else.” This stopped me in my tracks and it simmered with me for a long time.
Peace at what price? Does that involve a bomb, war, or a gun to someone’s head (coercion and submission)? In the time of WWII the construction of nuclear radiation bombs were under the title of “peacetime projects”. Is that peace? Or are we talking about an amicable arrangement between two parties where both sides can find a common appeasement? The later seems more rare as people like quick resolutions and are too hot to have conversations until lives and properties are damaged. Why cant we have conversations before this point? In my experience ego is a big reason, and believing the other person won’t ever give us anything or change is another. So we pick up tools to battle instead. So my new wish is that we have a world where we are able to have conversations with each other without taking it personally so we can become friends and neighbors again. I bet we find out we have more goals in common than the media would have us believe.
We may have different ideas of how to achieve these objectives, but if we calm ourselves we can find unity in solving problems together.
Many Buddhists have said, “There is no world peace, without inner peace.”
